WW-P South falls to Philadelphia power Roman Catholic at PrimeTime ESCIT

HAMILTON — Bob Schurtz knew perhaps as well as anybody the pitfall that came with entering his West Windsor-Plainsboro South High School boys’ basketball team into the crown jewel of area tournaments, the PrimeTime Eastern States Christmas Invitational Tournament.

He knew his team would draw one (if not two) of the premier powers that make the annual trip to Trenton Catholic Academy.

So Schurtz’s club found itself in a familiar situation when it drew perennial Philadelphia Catholic League power Roman Catholic in the opening round of the ESCIT.

Minus a rough second quarter, the Pirates acquitted themselves well before falling to Roman Catholic 79-63 tonight at the Iron Palace.

WW-P South next will take on Robert Vaux (Philadelphia) at 3 p.m. Saturday.

“For as sloppy as we were in the first quarter, throwing the ball away, missing three foul shots, giving up three uncontested lay-ups, it was still a four-point game,” Schurtz said, alluding to his team’s play in getting outscored 24-10 in the second frame. “I said, ‘You guys didn’t play like that in the second quarter. You played like you were afraid of the challenge.’ ”

But the flip side of faltering in tough early-season challenges has proved to be late-season dividends for the Pirates in years past, as they’ve used that experience to make deep runs in both the Mercer County and NJSIAA Group IV Central tournaments.
“That’s why we do this,” Schurtz said about entering the PrimeTime ESCIT. “It’s not easy. It’s not easy being the lone team that goes in with a bunch of prep and private school teams in their bracket and we’re the only public school.

“But that’s what I think makes us better. I think when you go back into conference play, you hope you can play a little better because you played against tough teams and good competition. That’s why we do it. We don’t get many out-of-conference games, and our goal is to play in a tournament that challenges us and we can find a way to steal a win. Tonight, obviously we weren’t able to do that, so we have to do everything we can to get one Saturday.”

Bryan Rivers led the Pirates with 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, while Zavon Johnson added 14 points and Dennis Zhuo added 11 points. Rivers was white-hot during the third quarter, knocking down four consecutive 3-pointers as the Pirates cut the difference to nine, 54-45, midway through the period.

“He’s a good basketball player,” Schurtz said of Rivers, who is closing in on joining the 1,000-point club. “That’s a whole dimension of his game that’s starting to come along, that’s evolving. He’s always been tremendously quick off the dribble. He’s a tough kid and finishes real well around the basket, but he’s worked tirelessly on that shot. You’re starting to see in other games he’s hitting mid-range jumpers because people are pulling off of him.

“Today he stepped back and hit a few behind the 3-point line, but I saw that in the summertime.

“That’s how his game’s evolved. It’s good that it’s kind of validated his hard work.”